Skip to main content

World Neolithic Congress 2024

Followers

218

Following

579

Co-author

1

Public Views

The first Neolithic Congress, a significant milestone in the field of archaeology, will be held 4–8 November, 2024, in Şanlıurfa, Turkey.

The program comprises general sessions containing research topics on the Neolithic worldwide, including Southwest Asia and Anatolia, Southeast Europe and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Caucasia, Eurasia, Central and East Asia, and Africa. The World Neolithic Congress would be one of the largest gatherings of archaeologists worldwide, and it offers unparalleled networking opportunities in its Congress Hall.

The meeting has a broad audience ranging from anyone interested in Neolithic archaeology to experts in the field. Attendees come from all over the world. With various presentations and events, attendees can learn something new, meet new contacts, and reconnect with old friends.

less

Uploads

Papers by World Neolithic Congress 2024

R32 -Environmental Influences in Sudan During the Neolithic Period

The Neolithic era is considered one of the last periods during the Holocene era, which was accomp... more The Neolithic era is considered one of the last periods during the Holocene era, which was accompanied by many climatic changes, in which a wet environment prevailed in central Sudan, as the rich savanna environment prevailed in large parts of the northern Sudan region, and covered the regions of southern Sudan, in the periods between 1000-7000 BC the present The Neolithic period was one of the most important stages. The choice of the place in which the Stone Age man lived was distinguished and imposed by several environmental conditions, including his presence in a high place, and also around the White and Blue Niles and the valleys of Kawadi Hor, Wadi Al-Muqaddam and other swamps. Hence, we derive the importance of this research, which deals with environmental influences through the archaeological record, which shows this through the places of settlement. These biological descriptions and some of the information you mentioned about the nature of this era help us a lot in understanding environmental fluctuations and their impact on the Neolithic period in Sudan. Sudan is now an attractive land for human beings since ancient times until today, the gateway to diverse cultures. These multiple environmental and cultural conditions paved the way for Sudan to be the starting point into Africa, as it drew attention towards it from time immemorial. In conclusion, we find that the Neolithic period is one of the most important periods in the history of Sudan.

R31 -Neolithic Migrations and Adaptations: From East Asia to the Indo-Pacific Hsiao-chun Hung / Australian National University, Australia

This session delves into human migrations dating back to the Neolithic period in the East Asian m... more This session delves into human migrations dating back to the Neolithic period in the East Asian mainland, when ancient rice and millet farmers migrated from the core areas of early agricultural zones in Central China to various other regions, including different parts of China, Taiwan, Japan, Mainland and Island Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. The session aims to present and analyze state-of-the-art evidence from archaeology, physical anthropology, genetics, and linguistics across the region. Participants in this session will offer insights into the timing, routes, motives, processes, and adaptations of these Neolithic dispersals, which have played a significant role in shaping the contemporary landscape of East Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

R29 -Breaking the Neolithic in Asia: Questioning Tropes, Recentering Boundaries and Nuancing Lifeways

That the Three Age system and the subdivisions of the lithic ages do not work outside Europe and ... more That the Three Age system and the subdivisions of the lithic ages do not work outside Europe and Near East has been debated in many forums. However, beyond this easily cited trope, the age-old idea of a "Neolithic" continually raises its head within literature. We see the presence of agriculture as a way to 'mark' the Neolithic, the absence of microliths as a marker of change, and ceramics used to debate the validity of chronological boundaries. Nuances underlying what this meant for the lives lived by people and the diversity underlying this in different regions are often overlooked in the eagerness to 'find' the Neolithic. The Neolithic has in essence become an 'archaeo-geological age'-so stratigraphically bounded and ubiquitous we find it hard to break from its presence. Local narratives are peripheralized in favour of an all encompassing, unnuanced and imported age. In this session we invite papers that explore diversity and break the homogeneity of 'Neolithic' life in Asia, moving away from mere tropes to how new lifeways were adopted, assimilated, rejected or replaced in different parts of Asia. Debates in the Neolithic of Asia (e.g.: use of aquatic resources, the adoption of pastoral and agricultural systems, domestication, changes in technology) are sought to explore the diversity of what it was 'to have been Neolithic'. Through this session we ask: is there something about the 'Neolithic' as a concept and term that helps people to understand the diversity of lifeways and societies associated with it across regions within Asia?

R28 Non Sedentary Neolithic Cultures

The definition of the Neolithic Period of Asia differs from other parts of the world such as Meso... more The definition of the Neolithic Period of Asia differs from other parts of the world such as Mesopotamia and Anatolia. The Neolithic Age cultures, which continued the hunter-fisher-gatherer economy and nomadic lifestyle, are distinguished from the Mesolithic Period cultures by using pottery and some developments in the stone tool industry. Especially in Eurasian archeology, it is known that excavations belonging to the Neolithic Period were carried out in burial complexes due to these features. For this reason, cultures are mostly defined through burial traditions. On the occasion of the World Neolithic Congress, under the title of such a session, the Neolithic Period perceptions and research methods of researchers from different geographies can be recognized and evaluated.

R27 -The Emergence of Food-Producing Economies in Central Asia: The Intersection of Cultural and Biological Data

Central Asia has been, throughout a large part of human history, a primary conduit for the diffus... more Central Asia has been, throughout a large part of human history, a primary conduit for the diffusion for cultural elements, technological innovations, and genes. Over the past few years, human ancient genomics projects, combined with growing data from archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, and isotopic analysis are allowing archaeologists to better contextualize their archaeological sites and associated artifacts. Despite major advances in scholarship, little remains known about the Neolitization processes of the Early and Mid-Holocene and the ways they underscored or reshaped population structures and cultural repertoires across Central Asia. This session seeks to bring together new insights into the transition to the food producing economies, and mobility dynamics of Neolithic populations that inhabited diverse environmental and cultural contexts across Central Asia. This session welcomes new perspectives derived from excavations, faunal and botanical analyses, and biomolecular and genomic records, with the overall aim of building holistic explanatory frameworks that better resolve the temporality and the cultural mechanisms associated with the origin and spread of farming and herding across the core of the ancient world. Among the question that we hope to grapple with in this session are: 1) what role did wild plants and animals play in the diet prior to the advent of cultivation behaviors. 2) Can we still discuss local innovations in economy or was the Neolithization of Inner Asia part of a demic wave spreading from southwest Asia. And, 3) what are the timing and routes of dispersal for the earliest crops and cultivation practices within this vast geographic region.

R26 -Features of the Spiritual Culture of the Population of the Lower Kama Region in the Neolithic-Eneolithic Era

Features of the spiritual culture of the population of the Lower Kama region in the Neolithic-Ene... more Features of the spiritual culture of the population of the Lower Kama region in the Neolithic-Eneolithic era. Based on the obtained archaeological data within the Lower Kama region, a description is given of the main features of the spiritual culture that became widespread among the population of the territory under consideration in the Neolithic-Eneolithic era. One of the sources for considering the spiritual culture of the Neolithic and Eneolithic eras are art objects, which will be the focus of this report.

R25 -The Dawn of the Neolithic in Northern Eurasia: Development of Foraging Complexity Ekaterina Dolbunova / The State Hermitage Museum, Russia

Vast areas of the both sides of the Urals with different ecotones were populated by foraging comm... more Vast areas of the both sides of the Urals with different ecotones were populated by foraging communities that sustained their way of life for several millennia. The instability of ecological niches due to climatic and/ or anthropogenic factors and the variability of biodiversity may have forced societies to change their adaptation mechanisms-through the development of new habitats, the adoption of innovation, the formation of new social and economic systems and networks. Crucial changes of the 7th-6th mill calBC within these hunter-gatherer societies are marked by settlement of larger areas, appearance of ceramics which became of a wide use in the whole hunter-gatherer world, increase of sedentism, changes in foraging strategies, and new settlement systems manifesting all a new way of life. The asynchronous appearance of these changes in different societies may have been due to their rate of acceptance of innovations, the speed of the process, the way how they were transferred. The new 'Neolithic' networks established might have been limited both by natural and, possibly, cultural borders. The session aims to show how local foraging groups reacted to the new reality, accepted and adapted to it or not. We are encouraging papers showing changes occurred comparing to the preceding Mesolithic time, the speed of these processes; the innovations emerged, whether these processes were triggered by global and local paleoclimatic changes through archaeological studies and implication of natural scientific methods.

R23 -Establishment of a New Socio-cultural Area -an Early Sedentary Culture of Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus Neolithic Khagani Almamedov / Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences, Azerbaijan

During 2010-2017, The Karabakh Neolithic-Eneolithic Expedition, in the Karabakh Plain, has carrie... more During 2010-2017, The Karabakh Neolithic-Eneolithic Expedition, in the Karabakh Plain, has carried out archeological excavations about 3600 sq km. area and as a result more than 300 archeological monuments were registered. In particular, we would like to note that 156 of these registered sites are the settlements of early farmer-breeder tribes. According to the settlement topography in the Neolithic period, the Karabakh Plain can be compared only to Anatolia, Iran, and Mesopotamia. For comparison, I would like to note that the existing Neolithic sites in the Karabakh Plain are at least 2 times larger than the coeval sites known throughout the South Caucasus. The results of archeological researches at the sites belonging to the early farmer-breeder culture in the Karabakh Plain allow us to say that this region was a center of local Neolithic culture in the South Caucasus in the 6 th millennium BC. The progressive traditions transmitted from the south to north or vice versa have caused the formation of a new socio-cultural area-an early sedentary culture of Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus Neolithic. Architectural features, technical and technological differences observed in ceramic production make it possible to distinguish Karabakh Neolithic succesors from other local Neolithic cultures of the Caucasus.

R22 -The Caucasian Neolithic

In 2023, it is proposed to hold a session on the Caucasian Neolithic within the framework of the ... more In 2023, it is proposed to hold a session on the Caucasian Neolithic within the framework of the World Neolithic Congress in Turkey. The reason for this is the joint archaeological investigations done in the recent 10 years at the archeological complexes of the Neolithic period in the South Caucasus by local and foreign researchers, and as a result, a lot of new information was obtained. In the Caucasus, small conferences have been organized in several countries related to archaeological research, mainly in the South Caucasus. A large number of scientific articles and even monographs have been published in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia related to the scientific information obtained by archaeologists. Thus, at the World Neolithic Congress, the emergence of the pre-pottery Neolithic at the territory of the Caucasus in the 7th millennium BC and the main genetic roots and influence of the late pottery Neolithic which was still on progress in the 6th millennium BC are among the most relevant topics on the problem of Neolithic cultures. The role of Eastern Anatolia in the formation of the Neolithic cultures of the Caucasus and the opposite influence of the South Caucasus on Anatolia are also important part of the topic discussed here. Considering all this, joint archaeological investigations by archaeologists from Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia and other foreign specialists working with local scientists in these countries will be included in the session on the topic of the Caucasian Neolithic. The mutual comparison with the Neolithic cultures of Anatolia through the issues of the Neolithic cultures of the South Caucasus, distinguished by its local characteristics, will be the subject of discussion.

R21 -Technological Similarities Between the Fertile Crescent and the Northern Black Sea area During the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic: Migrations, Cultural Connections or Case of Convergence

The period between 13-8 ka BP (uncal) in the Northern Black Sea area, i.e., the steppe zone of Uk... more The period between 13-8 ka BP (uncal) in the Northern Black Sea area, i.e., the steppe zone of Ukraine, the Mountainous Crimea, the Central and the Southern Caucasus, witnessed emergence of techno-typological features characteristic of the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic in the Fertile Crescent. This phenomenon includes, e.g., introduction of microburin technique, appearance of geometric microliths and pressure flaking during the Final Pleistocene and Navyform or bipolar technology of blades removal at the end of Preboreal. The session will be dedicated to attempts to explain the appearance of these features, in particular, whether they can be linked to migrations, cultural/social connections with the population inhabiting the Fertile Crescent, or, alternatively, resulted of convergent development. In order to investigate these possibilities the materials representing relevant cultural entities, i.e., Shankobian, Taubodrakian, Kukrekian, Crimean Swiderian, Murzakkobian, Kobuletian, Darkvetian, Traletian will be presented and discussed. Investigation of that issue, in particular, the possible existence of long lasting cultural networks connecting the Fertile Crescent and the Northern Black Sea area is of importance for reconstructing transition to Neolithic and productive economy in the latter.

R20 -Submerged Neolithic Sites Around the Mediterranean and Europe Hakan Öniz / Akdeniz University, Türkiye

Myths about great floods are known from ancient cultures (e.g., Noah's Ark, the Babylonian Epic o... more Myths about great floods are known from ancient cultures (e.g., Noah's Ark, the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, and Plato's Atlantis). In the nineteenth century, scientists realized that the equilibrium of water on earth involves cycles of ice ages (glacial periods) with associated fluctuations in sea level ranging from a drop of-120m during a glacial period and a high sea level of up to +10m during an interglacial period. Thus, there is potential in finding inundated settlements on the sea bottom. Until recently scholars had limited access to submerged prehistoric remains, but recent decades have seen a turning point in research possibilities. Both natural and humaninduced erosion processes have facilitated the exposure of sites, enabling their discovery. Developments in technology have made it possible to develop a methodology for detecting, documenting and studying these submerged prehistoric sites. Hundreds of sites are known in the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and in the Mediterranean Sea ◌̶ where long term research has been undertaken. For example, on the submerged prehistoric sites of Işıldaktepealti (Dardanelle-Çanakkale) in Turkey and Atlit-Yam in Israel, while many others await discovery and study. The discipline of submerged prehistory has become an essential part of underwater archaeology. It can fill gaps in knowledge and add another dimension to the research of prehistory. This session aims at presenting and discussing the chronological and cultural settings of prehistoric sites, especially dating to the Neolithic period, discovered on the sea bottom, clarifying the relationship between coastal cultures and the sea and the contribution of marine resources to their subsistence, as well as their resilience and adaptation to the changing coastal environment.

R17 -Early Monumentality and Social Differentation: Transformation in Europe

Monuments, especially megaliths shape huge regions of European landscape, even today, when the ma... more Monuments, especially megaliths shape huge regions of European landscape, even today, when the majority have been destroyed. The reconstructed number of monumental buildings in the whole area is estimated to several tens of thousands. In many European regions the increase in monuments is contemporary with first enclosures, increased human economic impact on the environment, extended external relations, and of a distinct increase in elaboration and diversity of material culture. In many regions a first boom in megalithic monumentality is followed by a second boom in individual burial mounds during the beginning of the third millennium BCE. Social and ideological developments connected to these formal changes are visible in the cultural landscape. In order to link observations to models of social change, to an understanding of ideological developments and to combine those topics to the physical background, the climate, environment and landscape developments, different case studies are already available with systematic data sampling, the integration of all data sources available and syntheses that account for different spatial scales and have a proper temporal resolution: important social, environmental and cultural transformations within the European Neolithic become visible. The session aims at linking individual case studies on these socioenvironmental transformations with general contributions on early monumental architecture, social and environmental changes and the creation of the earliest cultural landscapes of Europe.

R16 -Anatolia and the Balkans During the Neolithization Process: Connections, Similarities and Differences

The extremely important role of Anatolia in the process of the Neolithisation is highlighted by r... more The extremely important role of Anatolia in the process of the Neolithisation is highlighted by recent discoveries and current research, as well as the important role of the Balkans in the spread of Neolithic achievements further across Europe. The mutual connections of these two regions, which were key to the process of the Neolithization and reshaped their worlds at that time, have been poorly researched until now. With this session, we want to open the possibility for young and senior scholars who have dealt with (western) Anatolia, the Aegean and/or the Balkans, to present their new data and theories about characterization, differences and similarities during the formation and establishing of the Neolithic. We believe that looking at new data and models on a site-based, regional and supra-regional level offers new insights into the diversity and complexity of the Neolithisation. All social, cultural, anthropological and economic aspects as well as their broader ecological contextualization are welcome to discuss for example the built environment, diet, funeral customs, production, technologies and innovations to contribute to a better understanding if or how these regions were connected in the early to middle Holocene. This session aims to bring together experts and young researchers of (western) Anatolia, the Aegean and the Balkans to discuss this key zone and its transformation during the Neolithisation within the 'world Neolithic context'.

R15 -The Neolithic of the Aegean and Beyond: Supra-Regional Networks and Local Communities

The Circum-Aegean world is at the same time part of the Mediterranean and separated from it by la... more The Circum-Aegean world is at the same time part of the Mediterranean and separated from it by large islands. This interactive space that formed around the Aegean Sea offered many advantages to seafaring peoples since Mesolithic times or even before: a well-connected and authentic place where not only people and materials, but, above all, ideas circulated rapidly. Since the Mesolithic, and especially with the Neolithic way of life, interactions between its eastern and western parts resulted in a material and immaterial culture distinguishable from the surrounding areas. Nevertheless, the Circum-Aegean is far from being a uniform space, since there are numerous differences traceable between the various regions, such as the islands, the Anatolian coast and the Greek mainland. Through new research carried out in recent years in especially in the eastern Aegean area (in Anatolia) but also in the west (in Macedonia and Thessaly), another aspect has become even clearer: the possibility of defining inside the broader regions local styles in pottery production and material culture. In this session, we aim to discuss both the beginnings of the Neolithic way of life against the background of the Mesolithic, as well as the subsequent transformations culminating in the early/mid sixth millennium BC. Special attention shall be given to the internal dynamics within the Aegean and the exchange with the surrounding areas: on the Anatolian side with the Marmara region up to the Bosporus in the north and with the Lake District down to the Mediterranean coast in the south; on the European side via river systems with the north and northwest. The session welcomes contributions on material culture, chronology and terminology, various aspects of regional cultures and interregional networks. As it is not possible to adequately study the Circum-Aegean Neolithic without interdisciplinary approaches, we explicitly welcome presentations on environmental aspects, archaeometry and bioarchaeology. In this way, we aim to highlight the originality of Aegean Neolithic societies in their various aspects.

R14 -Regional and Inter-Regional Palimpsests of Neolithization Processes: South-Eastern Europe

The session will focus on archaeological, archaeogenetic, biomolecular, demographic, climatic, an... more The session will focus on archaeological, archaeogenetic, biomolecular, demographic, climatic, and paleoeconomic regional palimpsests. In addition to the processes of transition to farming, artefact assemblages and chronological trajectories, symbolism and social practices, the concepts of the Neolithic package, demic diffusion, migration, geneculture coevolution, Neolithic demographic transition, and the agricultural frontier will be discussed.

R13 -From the "Civilization of minds" to obsidian mirrors: the study of the World Neolithic according to

, has left some of their own research on various fields of the World Neolithic unfinished. Throug... more , has left some of their own research on various fields of the World Neolithic unfinished. Throughout his long career, Prof. Charvàt carried out in-depth research on the birth of the first states and urban agglomerations, as well as the beginning of bureaucracy through the use of seals and their impressions. The eminent Czech archaeologist and historian personally viewed the Neolithic as a "Civilization of minds" in contrast to the Chalcolithic or Bronze Age cultures, which he considered "Civilizations of the stomach." In her research on the Neolithic, Dr. Güner Coşkunsu was able to confirm her interest in archeology about childhood, the role of women in prehistory, and especially the Neolithic period, as well as in-depth research on stone tools, in which Her interest in an unprocessed material stood out, the magical volcanic crystal, which we call obsidian; within this lithic raw material, she highlighted an important attraction for the subject of "mirrors". So this session will cover these mentioned aspects, or various in relation to them within the Neolithic sphere: seals and imprints, bureaucracy, centralized organization in the central Neolithic towns, "the mind of Neolithic men", women and the question of matriarchal clans in the Neolithic, the archeology of childhood in the Neolithic, organization of stone industries, as well as obsidian industry and trade, and last but not least, the obsidian mirrors.

R12 -The Neolithic of Arid Environments -Bringing the Margins to the Centre

The large deserts and desertic steppes of the Levant have always been perceived as marginal envir... more The large deserts and desertic steppes of the Levant have always been perceived as marginal environments within the 'Neolithic world'-not only ecologically, but by extension also economically, socially, and culturally. However, marginality is not dictated by the abundance or scarcity of water: the southern Levantine 'Desert Belt', for example, running from the Sinai Peninsula in the west, through the Negev desert, to the Jordanian Badia in the east, plays a central role in the story of the Neolithic period. Archaeological research has already shown the persistent occupation of these regions from the Late Epipaleolithic to the end of the pottery Neolithic, despite the arid and hyper-arid conditions indicated by paleoenvironmental reconstructions. What were the economic and settlemental modi operandi that enabled these populations not only to survive, but to flourish in these harsh conditions? Moreover, keeping a more mobile way of life, the populations of the arid regions were crucial actors, connecting the various, dispersed agricultural societies in the Mediterranean zones, transmitting commodities, but not less importantly, ideas. Located in the center of the wider, Saharo-Arabian desert belt, these arid regions, must have also had a role as a connecting node within the larger, supra-regional transmission systems. This session supports an interregional approach, aiming to bring together research from different arid regions within Eurasia and Africa, to promote a discussion of the similarities as well as the variability apparent in the archaeological record, putting the so-called 'marginal' in the center, with a more synthetic, wider viewpoint.

R11 The Neolithic of Southern Levant in its Wider Context

R10 -From Zagros to Alborz and Beyond: Formative and Adoptive Neolithic Lifeways on The Iranian Plateau

Since the 1940-50s, the Neolithic period in Iran has been sporadically explored by a number of ar... more Since the 1940-50s, the Neolithic period in Iran has been sporadically explored by a number of archaeologists. Following the pioneering work by R. Braidwood in the central Zagros in 1959-60, attention was given to question-oriented investigations, especially on the onset of domestication and sedentary life. Subsequent political instabilities put research in hiatus for about three decades. This severely limited our understanding of Iran's Neolithic in comparison to other regions of Western Asia. In the last two decades, however, not only have some previously excavated sites or collections been re-evaluated, but new archaeological activities have also been undertaken. As recently suggested by aDNA data, an important approach to better understand the emergence and spread of the Neolithic lifestyle on the Iranian plateau is the interregional connections between the western and central parts of Asia. Current evidence points to a distinct pattern of Neolithic eco-cultural zones that interacted intensively with their neighbors via networks through which ideas, raw materials or commodities circulated and were transported. However, little is known about the possible impact of climatic or demographic factors on the development of the Neolithic lifestyle throughout Iran. Moreover, it remains unclear to what extent the secondary centers/learning or adoptive zones were influenced by the primary/formative ones. With the main goal of addressing the above issues, this session aims to bring together researchers to present the latest available data on the emergence and development of Neolithic lifeways in Iran, a region that encompasses a mosaic of diverse Neolithic cultures but is still only vaguely known. It is expected that the session can contribute to our better understanding of the extent to which Neolithic societies were in contact throughout the Iranian plateau and its neighbors, and how Neolithic lifeways are most likely to have evolved across this vast region linking the western parts of Asia with the central parts.

R08 -The Evidence of Violence in the Neolithic Buildings of Southeastern Turkey and its Possible Relations with Other Regions

The Neolithic in various regions of the world (Western Asia, Central Europe) has been associated ... more The Neolithic in various regions of the world (Western Asia, Central Europe) has been associated with one of the first periods of human history where the greatest abundance of archaeological records with evidence of interpersonal violence took place. During the Early Neolithic (so-called Pre-Pottery, PPN A and B) Period of Southeastern Turkey, c. 9500-7000 BC, a series of buildings associated with the idea of central or communal sanctuaries appeared. The transition from Aceramic Neolithic (PPN) A to B in many regions of the Near East entails evident changes in the archaeological record on material culture; and there is evidence of the existence of the changes due partially to some conflict. From the advanced phase of the Early Neolithic (PPNB) the presence of human remains coupled with the idea of interpersonal violence began to abound (eg. beheadings, sealing the ritual buildings of Neolithic Göbekli Tepe final phase with chopped human bones), a type of presence that already was listed in earlier phase (PPNA) locations at the Levant (such as Jerico in the Jordan Valley) or the use of stone mace-head in burials at Kortik Tepe (Eastern Turkey). These desecrations of the human body seem not only characteristic of the pre-pottery phase of the Neolithic of the Levant or eastern-central Turkey, since in later phases of the Neolithic of Western Asia (as example, the Halaf culture) reliable evidence has been found not only of conflicts, but of consumption of human remains (Domuz Tepe, Eastern Turkey). In addition, the existence of lithic materials typical of the eastern area (for example, arrowheads from the cultures of the Israel-Jordan area) associated with the area of the Göbeklitepe buildings is supplementary evidence regarding this "conflict" issue. Such discoveries, made gradually in the last decades of the research on the Neolithic of the region, put into question a new reinterpretation of some aspects and mentality of the final phase of Prehistory regarding the human violence.

R32 -Environmental Influences in Sudan During the Neolithic Period

The Neolithic era is considered one of the last periods during the Holocene era, which was accomp... more The Neolithic era is considered one of the last periods during the Holocene era, which was accompanied by many climatic changes, in which a wet environment prevailed in central Sudan, as the rich savanna environment prevailed in large parts of the northern Sudan region, and covered the regions of southern Sudan, in the periods between 1000-7000 BC the present The Neolithic period was one of the most important stages. The choice of the place in which the Stone Age man lived was distinguished and imposed by several environmental conditions, including his presence in a high place, and also around the White and Blue Niles and the valleys of Kawadi Hor, Wadi Al-Muqaddam and other swamps. Hence, we derive the importance of this research, which deals with environmental influences through the archaeological record, which shows this through the places of settlement. These biological descriptions and some of the information you mentioned about the nature of this era help us a lot in understanding environmental fluctuations and their impact on the Neolithic period in Sudan. Sudan is now an attractive land for human beings since ancient times until today, the gateway to diverse cultures. These multiple environmental and cultural conditions paved the way for Sudan to be the starting point into Africa, as it drew attention towards it from time immemorial. In conclusion, we find that the Neolithic period is one of the most important periods in the history of Sudan.

R31 -Neolithic Migrations and Adaptations: From East Asia to the Indo-Pacific Hsiao-chun Hung / Australian National University, Australia

This session delves into human migrations dating back to the Neolithic period in the East Asian m... more This session delves into human migrations dating back to the Neolithic period in the East Asian mainland, when ancient rice and millet farmers migrated from the core areas of early agricultural zones in Central China to various other regions, including different parts of China, Taiwan, Japan, Mainland and Island Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. The session aims to present and analyze state-of-the-art evidence from archaeology, physical anthropology, genetics, and linguistics across the region. Participants in this session will offer insights into the timing, routes, motives, processes, and adaptations of these Neolithic dispersals, which have played a significant role in shaping the contemporary landscape of East Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

R29 -Breaking the Neolithic in Asia: Questioning Tropes, Recentering Boundaries and Nuancing Lifeways

That the Three Age system and the subdivisions of the lithic ages do not work outside Europe and ... more That the Three Age system and the subdivisions of the lithic ages do not work outside Europe and Near East has been debated in many forums. However, beyond this easily cited trope, the age-old idea of a "Neolithic" continually raises its head within literature. We see the presence of agriculture as a way to 'mark' the Neolithic, the absence of microliths as a marker of change, and ceramics used to debate the validity of chronological boundaries. Nuances underlying what this meant for the lives lived by people and the diversity underlying this in different regions are often overlooked in the eagerness to 'find' the Neolithic. The Neolithic has in essence become an 'archaeo-geological age'-so stratigraphically bounded and ubiquitous we find it hard to break from its presence. Local narratives are peripheralized in favour of an all encompassing, unnuanced and imported age. In this session we invite papers that explore diversity and break the homogeneity of 'Neolithic' life in Asia, moving away from mere tropes to how new lifeways were adopted, assimilated, rejected or replaced in different parts of Asia. Debates in the Neolithic of Asia (e.g.: use of aquatic resources, the adoption of pastoral and agricultural systems, domestication, changes in technology) are sought to explore the diversity of what it was 'to have been Neolithic'. Through this session we ask: is there something about the 'Neolithic' as a concept and term that helps people to understand the diversity of lifeways and societies associated with it across regions within Asia?

R28 Non Sedentary Neolithic Cultures

The definition of the Neolithic Period of Asia differs from other parts of the world such as Meso... more The definition of the Neolithic Period of Asia differs from other parts of the world such as Mesopotamia and Anatolia. The Neolithic Age cultures, which continued the hunter-fisher-gatherer economy and nomadic lifestyle, are distinguished from the Mesolithic Period cultures by using pottery and some developments in the stone tool industry. Especially in Eurasian archeology, it is known that excavations belonging to the Neolithic Period were carried out in burial complexes due to these features. For this reason, cultures are mostly defined through burial traditions. On the occasion of the World Neolithic Congress, under the title of such a session, the Neolithic Period perceptions and research methods of researchers from different geographies can be recognized and evaluated.

R27 -The Emergence of Food-Producing Economies in Central Asia: The Intersection of Cultural and Biological Data

Central Asia has been, throughout a large part of human history, a primary conduit for the diffus... more Central Asia has been, throughout a large part of human history, a primary conduit for the diffusion for cultural elements, technological innovations, and genes. Over the past few years, human ancient genomics projects, combined with growing data from archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, and isotopic analysis are allowing archaeologists to better contextualize their archaeological sites and associated artifacts. Despite major advances in scholarship, little remains known about the Neolitization processes of the Early and Mid-Holocene and the ways they underscored or reshaped population structures and cultural repertoires across Central Asia. This session seeks to bring together new insights into the transition to the food producing economies, and mobility dynamics of Neolithic populations that inhabited diverse environmental and cultural contexts across Central Asia. This session welcomes new perspectives derived from excavations, faunal and botanical analyses, and biomolecular and genomic records, with the overall aim of building holistic explanatory frameworks that better resolve the temporality and the cultural mechanisms associated with the origin and spread of farming and herding across the core of the ancient world. Among the question that we hope to grapple with in this session are: 1) what role did wild plants and animals play in the diet prior to the advent of cultivation behaviors. 2) Can we still discuss local innovations in economy or was the Neolithization of Inner Asia part of a demic wave spreading from southwest Asia. And, 3) what are the timing and routes of dispersal for the earliest crops and cultivation practices within this vast geographic region.

R26 -Features of the Spiritual Culture of the Population of the Lower Kama Region in the Neolithic-Eneolithic Era

Features of the spiritual culture of the population of the Lower Kama region in the Neolithic-Ene... more Features of the spiritual culture of the population of the Lower Kama region in the Neolithic-Eneolithic era. Based on the obtained archaeological data within the Lower Kama region, a description is given of the main features of the spiritual culture that became widespread among the population of the territory under consideration in the Neolithic-Eneolithic era. One of the sources for considering the spiritual culture of the Neolithic and Eneolithic eras are art objects, which will be the focus of this report.

R25 -The Dawn of the Neolithic in Northern Eurasia: Development of Foraging Complexity Ekaterina Dolbunova / The State Hermitage Museum, Russia

Vast areas of the both sides of the Urals with different ecotones were populated by foraging comm... more Vast areas of the both sides of the Urals with different ecotones were populated by foraging communities that sustained their way of life for several millennia. The instability of ecological niches due to climatic and/ or anthropogenic factors and the variability of biodiversity may have forced societies to change their adaptation mechanisms-through the development of new habitats, the adoption of innovation, the formation of new social and economic systems and networks. Crucial changes of the 7th-6th mill calBC within these hunter-gatherer societies are marked by settlement of larger areas, appearance of ceramics which became of a wide use in the whole hunter-gatherer world, increase of sedentism, changes in foraging strategies, and new settlement systems manifesting all a new way of life. The asynchronous appearance of these changes in different societies may have been due to their rate of acceptance of innovations, the speed of the process, the way how they were transferred. The new 'Neolithic' networks established might have been limited both by natural and, possibly, cultural borders. The session aims to show how local foraging groups reacted to the new reality, accepted and adapted to it or not. We are encouraging papers showing changes occurred comparing to the preceding Mesolithic time, the speed of these processes; the innovations emerged, whether these processes were triggered by global and local paleoclimatic changes through archaeological studies and implication of natural scientific methods.

R23 -Establishment of a New Socio-cultural Area -an Early Sedentary Culture of Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus Neolithic Khagani Almamedov / Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences, Azerbaijan

During 2010-2017, The Karabakh Neolithic-Eneolithic Expedition, in the Karabakh Plain, has carrie... more During 2010-2017, The Karabakh Neolithic-Eneolithic Expedition, in the Karabakh Plain, has carried out archeological excavations about 3600 sq km. area and as a result more than 300 archeological monuments were registered. In particular, we would like to note that 156 of these registered sites are the settlements of early farmer-breeder tribes. According to the settlement topography in the Neolithic period, the Karabakh Plain can be compared only to Anatolia, Iran, and Mesopotamia. For comparison, I would like to note that the existing Neolithic sites in the Karabakh Plain are at least 2 times larger than the coeval sites known throughout the South Caucasus. The results of archeological researches at the sites belonging to the early farmer-breeder culture in the Karabakh Plain allow us to say that this region was a center of local Neolithic culture in the South Caucasus in the 6 th millennium BC. The progressive traditions transmitted from the south to north or vice versa have caused the formation of a new socio-cultural area-an early sedentary culture of Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus Neolithic. Architectural features, technical and technological differences observed in ceramic production make it possible to distinguish Karabakh Neolithic succesors from other local Neolithic cultures of the Caucasus.

R22 -The Caucasian Neolithic

In 2023, it is proposed to hold a session on the Caucasian Neolithic within the framework of the ... more In 2023, it is proposed to hold a session on the Caucasian Neolithic within the framework of the World Neolithic Congress in Turkey. The reason for this is the joint archaeological investigations done in the recent 10 years at the archeological complexes of the Neolithic period in the South Caucasus by local and foreign researchers, and as a result, a lot of new information was obtained. In the Caucasus, small conferences have been organized in several countries related to archaeological research, mainly in the South Caucasus. A large number of scientific articles and even monographs have been published in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia related to the scientific information obtained by archaeologists. Thus, at the World Neolithic Congress, the emergence of the pre-pottery Neolithic at the territory of the Caucasus in the 7th millennium BC and the main genetic roots and influence of the late pottery Neolithic which was still on progress in the 6th millennium BC are among the most relevant topics on the problem of Neolithic cultures. The role of Eastern Anatolia in the formation of the Neolithic cultures of the Caucasus and the opposite influence of the South Caucasus on Anatolia are also important part of the topic discussed here. Considering all this, joint archaeological investigations by archaeologists from Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia and other foreign specialists working with local scientists in these countries will be included in the session on the topic of the Caucasian Neolithic. The mutual comparison with the Neolithic cultures of Anatolia through the issues of the Neolithic cultures of the South Caucasus, distinguished by its local characteristics, will be the subject of discussion.

R21 -Technological Similarities Between the Fertile Crescent and the Northern Black Sea area During the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic: Migrations, Cultural Connections or Case of Convergence

The period between 13-8 ka BP (uncal) in the Northern Black Sea area, i.e., the steppe zone of Uk... more The period between 13-8 ka BP (uncal) in the Northern Black Sea area, i.e., the steppe zone of Ukraine, the Mountainous Crimea, the Central and the Southern Caucasus, witnessed emergence of techno-typological features characteristic of the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic in the Fertile Crescent. This phenomenon includes, e.g., introduction of microburin technique, appearance of geometric microliths and pressure flaking during the Final Pleistocene and Navyform or bipolar technology of blades removal at the end of Preboreal. The session will be dedicated to attempts to explain the appearance of these features, in particular, whether they can be linked to migrations, cultural/social connections with the population inhabiting the Fertile Crescent, or, alternatively, resulted of convergent development. In order to investigate these possibilities the materials representing relevant cultural entities, i.e., Shankobian, Taubodrakian, Kukrekian, Crimean Swiderian, Murzakkobian, Kobuletian, Darkvetian, Traletian will be presented and discussed. Investigation of that issue, in particular, the possible existence of long lasting cultural networks connecting the Fertile Crescent and the Northern Black Sea area is of importance for reconstructing transition to Neolithic and productive economy in the latter.

R20 -Submerged Neolithic Sites Around the Mediterranean and Europe Hakan Öniz / Akdeniz University, Türkiye

Myths about great floods are known from ancient cultures (e.g., Noah's Ark, the Babylonian Epic o... more Myths about great floods are known from ancient cultures (e.g., Noah's Ark, the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, and Plato's Atlantis). In the nineteenth century, scientists realized that the equilibrium of water on earth involves cycles of ice ages (glacial periods) with associated fluctuations in sea level ranging from a drop of-120m during a glacial period and a high sea level of up to +10m during an interglacial period. Thus, there is potential in finding inundated settlements on the sea bottom. Until recently scholars had limited access to submerged prehistoric remains, but recent decades have seen a turning point in research possibilities. Both natural and humaninduced erosion processes have facilitated the exposure of sites, enabling their discovery. Developments in technology have made it possible to develop a methodology for detecting, documenting and studying these submerged prehistoric sites. Hundreds of sites are known in the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and in the Mediterranean Sea ◌̶ where long term research has been undertaken. For example, on the submerged prehistoric sites of Işıldaktepealti (Dardanelle-Çanakkale) in Turkey and Atlit-Yam in Israel, while many others await discovery and study. The discipline of submerged prehistory has become an essential part of underwater archaeology. It can fill gaps in knowledge and add another dimension to the research of prehistory. This session aims at presenting and discussing the chronological and cultural settings of prehistoric sites, especially dating to the Neolithic period, discovered on the sea bottom, clarifying the relationship between coastal cultures and the sea and the contribution of marine resources to their subsistence, as well as their resilience and adaptation to the changing coastal environment.

R17 -Early Monumentality and Social Differentation: Transformation in Europe

Monuments, especially megaliths shape huge regions of European landscape, even today, when the ma... more Monuments, especially megaliths shape huge regions of European landscape, even today, when the majority have been destroyed. The reconstructed number of monumental buildings in the whole area is estimated to several tens of thousands. In many European regions the increase in monuments is contemporary with first enclosures, increased human economic impact on the environment, extended external relations, and of a distinct increase in elaboration and diversity of material culture. In many regions a first boom in megalithic monumentality is followed by a second boom in individual burial mounds during the beginning of the third millennium BCE. Social and ideological developments connected to these formal changes are visible in the cultural landscape. In order to link observations to models of social change, to an understanding of ideological developments and to combine those topics to the physical background, the climate, environment and landscape developments, different case studies are already available with systematic data sampling, the integration of all data sources available and syntheses that account for different spatial scales and have a proper temporal resolution: important social, environmental and cultural transformations within the European Neolithic become visible. The session aims at linking individual case studies on these socioenvironmental transformations with general contributions on early monumental architecture, social and environmental changes and the creation of the earliest cultural landscapes of Europe.

R16 -Anatolia and the Balkans During the Neolithization Process: Connections, Similarities and Differences

The extremely important role of Anatolia in the process of the Neolithisation is highlighted by r... more The extremely important role of Anatolia in the process of the Neolithisation is highlighted by recent discoveries and current research, as well as the important role of the Balkans in the spread of Neolithic achievements further across Europe. The mutual connections of these two regions, which were key to the process of the Neolithization and reshaped their worlds at that time, have been poorly researched until now. With this session, we want to open the possibility for young and senior scholars who have dealt with (western) Anatolia, the Aegean and/or the Balkans, to present their new data and theories about characterization, differences and similarities during the formation and establishing of the Neolithic. We believe that looking at new data and models on a site-based, regional and supra-regional level offers new insights into the diversity and complexity of the Neolithisation. All social, cultural, anthropological and economic aspects as well as their broader ecological contextualization are welcome to discuss for example the built environment, diet, funeral customs, production, technologies and innovations to contribute to a better understanding if or how these regions were connected in the early to middle Holocene. This session aims to bring together experts and young researchers of (western) Anatolia, the Aegean and the Balkans to discuss this key zone and its transformation during the Neolithisation within the 'world Neolithic context'.

R15 -The Neolithic of the Aegean and Beyond: Supra-Regional Networks and Local Communities

The Circum-Aegean world is at the same time part of the Mediterranean and separated from it by la... more The Circum-Aegean world is at the same time part of the Mediterranean and separated from it by large islands. This interactive space that formed around the Aegean Sea offered many advantages to seafaring peoples since Mesolithic times or even before: a well-connected and authentic place where not only people and materials, but, above all, ideas circulated rapidly. Since the Mesolithic, and especially with the Neolithic way of life, interactions between its eastern and western parts resulted in a material and immaterial culture distinguishable from the surrounding areas. Nevertheless, the Circum-Aegean is far from being a uniform space, since there are numerous differences traceable between the various regions, such as the islands, the Anatolian coast and the Greek mainland. Through new research carried out in recent years in especially in the eastern Aegean area (in Anatolia) but also in the west (in Macedonia and Thessaly), another aspect has become even clearer: the possibility of defining inside the broader regions local styles in pottery production and material culture. In this session, we aim to discuss both the beginnings of the Neolithic way of life against the background of the Mesolithic, as well as the subsequent transformations culminating in the early/mid sixth millennium BC. Special attention shall be given to the internal dynamics within the Aegean and the exchange with the surrounding areas: on the Anatolian side with the Marmara region up to the Bosporus in the north and with the Lake District down to the Mediterranean coast in the south; on the European side via river systems with the north and northwest. The session welcomes contributions on material culture, chronology and terminology, various aspects of regional cultures and interregional networks. As it is not possible to adequately study the Circum-Aegean Neolithic without interdisciplinary approaches, we explicitly welcome presentations on environmental aspects, archaeometry and bioarchaeology. In this way, we aim to highlight the originality of Aegean Neolithic societies in their various aspects.

R14 -Regional and Inter-Regional Palimpsests of Neolithization Processes: South-Eastern Europe

The session will focus on archaeological, archaeogenetic, biomolecular, demographic, climatic, an... more The session will focus on archaeological, archaeogenetic, biomolecular, demographic, climatic, and paleoeconomic regional palimpsests. In addition to the processes of transition to farming, artefact assemblages and chronological trajectories, symbolism and social practices, the concepts of the Neolithic package, demic diffusion, migration, geneculture coevolution, Neolithic demographic transition, and the agricultural frontier will be discussed.

R13 -From the "Civilization of minds" to obsidian mirrors: the study of the World Neolithic according to

, has left some of their own research on various fields of the World Neolithic unfinished. Throug... more , has left some of their own research on various fields of the World Neolithic unfinished. Throughout his long career, Prof. Charvàt carried out in-depth research on the birth of the first states and urban agglomerations, as well as the beginning of bureaucracy through the use of seals and their impressions. The eminent Czech archaeologist and historian personally viewed the Neolithic as a "Civilization of minds" in contrast to the Chalcolithic or Bronze Age cultures, which he considered "Civilizations of the stomach." In her research on the Neolithic, Dr. Güner Coşkunsu was able to confirm her interest in archeology about childhood, the role of women in prehistory, and especially the Neolithic period, as well as in-depth research on stone tools, in which Her interest in an unprocessed material stood out, the magical volcanic crystal, which we call obsidian; within this lithic raw material, she highlighted an important attraction for the subject of "mirrors". So this session will cover these mentioned aspects, or various in relation to them within the Neolithic sphere: seals and imprints, bureaucracy, centralized organization in the central Neolithic towns, "the mind of Neolithic men", women and the question of matriarchal clans in the Neolithic, the archeology of childhood in the Neolithic, organization of stone industries, as well as obsidian industry and trade, and last but not least, the obsidian mirrors.

R12 -The Neolithic of Arid Environments -Bringing the Margins to the Centre

The large deserts and desertic steppes of the Levant have always been perceived as marginal envir... more The large deserts and desertic steppes of the Levant have always been perceived as marginal environments within the 'Neolithic world'-not only ecologically, but by extension also economically, socially, and culturally. However, marginality is not dictated by the abundance or scarcity of water: the southern Levantine 'Desert Belt', for example, running from the Sinai Peninsula in the west, through the Negev desert, to the Jordanian Badia in the east, plays a central role in the story of the Neolithic period. Archaeological research has already shown the persistent occupation of these regions from the Late Epipaleolithic to the end of the pottery Neolithic, despite the arid and hyper-arid conditions indicated by paleoenvironmental reconstructions. What were the economic and settlemental modi operandi that enabled these populations not only to survive, but to flourish in these harsh conditions? Moreover, keeping a more mobile way of life, the populations of the arid regions were crucial actors, connecting the various, dispersed agricultural societies in the Mediterranean zones, transmitting commodities, but not less importantly, ideas. Located in the center of the wider, Saharo-Arabian desert belt, these arid regions, must have also had a role as a connecting node within the larger, supra-regional transmission systems. This session supports an interregional approach, aiming to bring together research from different arid regions within Eurasia and Africa, to promote a discussion of the similarities as well as the variability apparent in the archaeological record, putting the so-called 'marginal' in the center, with a more synthetic, wider viewpoint.

R11 The Neolithic of Southern Levant in its Wider Context

R10 -From Zagros to Alborz and Beyond: Formative and Adoptive Neolithic Lifeways on The Iranian Plateau

Since the 1940-50s, the Neolithic period in Iran has been sporadically explored by a number of ar... more Since the 1940-50s, the Neolithic period in Iran has been sporadically explored by a number of archaeologists. Following the pioneering work by R. Braidwood in the central Zagros in 1959-60, attention was given to question-oriented investigations, especially on the onset of domestication and sedentary life. Subsequent political instabilities put research in hiatus for about three decades. This severely limited our understanding of Iran's Neolithic in comparison to other regions of Western Asia. In the last two decades, however, not only have some previously excavated sites or collections been re-evaluated, but new archaeological activities have also been undertaken. As recently suggested by aDNA data, an important approach to better understand the emergence and spread of the Neolithic lifestyle on the Iranian plateau is the interregional connections between the western and central parts of Asia. Current evidence points to a distinct pattern of Neolithic eco-cultural zones that interacted intensively with their neighbors via networks through which ideas, raw materials or commodities circulated and were transported. However, little is known about the possible impact of climatic or demographic factors on the development of the Neolithic lifestyle throughout Iran. Moreover, it remains unclear to what extent the secondary centers/learning or adoptive zones were influenced by the primary/formative ones. With the main goal of addressing the above issues, this session aims to bring together researchers to present the latest available data on the emergence and development of Neolithic lifeways in Iran, a region that encompasses a mosaic of diverse Neolithic cultures but is still only vaguely known. It is expected that the session can contribute to our better understanding of the extent to which Neolithic societies were in contact throughout the Iranian plateau and its neighbors, and how Neolithic lifeways are most likely to have evolved across this vast region linking the western parts of Asia with the central parts.

R08 -The Evidence of Violence in the Neolithic Buildings of Southeastern Turkey and its Possible Relations with Other Regions

The Neolithic in various regions of the world (Western Asia, Central Europe) has been associated ... more The Neolithic in various regions of the world (Western Asia, Central Europe) has been associated with one of the first periods of human history where the greatest abundance of archaeological records with evidence of interpersonal violence took place. During the Early Neolithic (so-called Pre-Pottery, PPN A and B) Period of Southeastern Turkey, c. 9500-7000 BC, a series of buildings associated with the idea of central or communal sanctuaries appeared. The transition from Aceramic Neolithic (PPN) A to B in many regions of the Near East entails evident changes in the archaeological record on material culture; and there is evidence of the existence of the changes due partially to some conflict. From the advanced phase of the Early Neolithic (PPNB) the presence of human remains coupled with the idea of interpersonal violence began to abound (eg. beheadings, sealing the ritual buildings of Neolithic Göbekli Tepe final phase with chopped human bones), a type of presence that already was listed in earlier phase (PPNA) locations at the Levant (such as Jerico in the Jordan Valley) or the use of stone mace-head in burials at Kortik Tepe (Eastern Turkey). These desecrations of the human body seem not only characteristic of the pre-pottery phase of the Neolithic of the Levant or eastern-central Turkey, since in later phases of the Neolithic of Western Asia (as example, the Halaf culture) reliable evidence has been found not only of conflicts, but of consumption of human remains (Domuz Tepe, Eastern Turkey). In addition, the existence of lithic materials typical of the eastern area (for example, arrowheads from the cultures of the Israel-Jordan area) associated with the area of the Göbeklitepe buildings is supplementary evidence regarding this "conflict" issue. Such discoveries, made gradually in the last decades of the research on the Neolithic of the region, put into question a new reinterpretation of some aspects and mentality of the final phase of Prehistory regarding the human violence.